Please note: We’re currently running very low on Reader’s Feature articles for this weekend and beyond, so if you’ve ever wanted to write one but never got around to it now would be a great time. They can be on any game-related subject you want, although do try and avoid topics that have been covered recently if you can.

First person only
With all this talk of VR I’m left wondering how this will affect future games when the tech becomes commercially available. Virtual reality only works in first person games, so shooters and driving games will be largely unchanged but will other genres be made to work in first person just for the sake of it? Uncharted, Dark Souls, and other third person franchises just wouldn’t be the same if translated into first person and that goes for the Street Fighters and Sly Raccoon/Jak And Daxter style games.

Suddenly VR loses half its appeal when perhaps half of the games I enjoy at the moment just wouldn’t be suitable for VR and if developers changed the game to work with headsets they would probably no longer be the games I want to play. I’m not dismissing VR headsets so early without actually trying them but 3D hasn’t really caught on and I can see VR being the equivalent of Kinect, limited use and pushed into games entirely unsuitable. And how many publishers will finance enhanced VR versions of AAA games if the potential customer base is only a minority of hardcore gamers anyway?

I’m interested in Sony’s approach as their previous 3D headset was rather expensive and I’m not sure there would be many people willing to spend almost twice as much as the price of their console just for a display but if they are essentially using a single Vita style OLED screen (the Vita screen is superb although perhaps not suitable for use in such close proximity to the eyes) with split-screen display and using Vita motion sensors then adding their surround headset then a price point of £200-250 doesn’t sound totally unrealistic.

After all, to my mind at least, the Vita requires all the OS and hardware to run software whereas the VR headset only needs to display the input signal and output audio (both decoded at source so no processing required) and send the signals from the motion sensors back to the console. Maybe that’s me oversimplifying the technology but I’m sure a reader will correct me in the UnderboxOpt1mus76 (PSN ID)
Current playlist: Dark Souls II, South Park: The Stick Of Truth, SteamWorld Dig, and inFamous: Second Son

Candy Crush VR
Man…. that news about the Facebook Corp. acquiring the Oculus Rift tech… sigh. My deepest condolences to all those Kickstarter backers. The thought of the VR tech being used for the lugubrious likes of Farmville and Candy Crush is enough to give me nightmares for weeks!

I feel like I’ve been sucker-punched by Zuckerburg! The swine! Seems like John D. Carmack backed the wrong horse, he should extricate himself from the Matrix now by taking the red pill courtesy of Sony’s Morpheus! Time is of the essence! Such doom and gloom, enough to make one quake in his boots! Carmack must be currently filled with rage!Galvanized (flustered) Gamer

Pokémon deflation
My excitement for VR has been deflated somewhat by the news of Oculus purchase by Facebook. I’m cautiously optimistic and will still be keeping an eye out for whatever developments occur.John Ryan
PS: Thanks GC for the Pokémon Black/White recommendation. Amazon only had the sequel to Pokémon Black in stock and so purchased that version. I assumed Pokémon Black 2 was pretty much the same game as Black 1.
PPS: I guess I am capable of writing shorter emails.

GC: Pokémon Black 2/White 2 is the only direct sequel in the whole mainline franchise, and a fairly shameful cash grab given the lack of new features. We’d only consider it if you really like the story in the first one.

No middle ground
‘There are many more differences than just that of course, and perhaps the most telling is that while Second Son was made by the usual team of hundreds TowerFall Ascension is the work of just a handful of people, overseen by Matt Thorson who did all the design and coding himself’.

That quote I dare say sums up pretty nicely the dilemma faced by the modern games industry. Now before I get lots of abuse of course the big budget AAA game has its advantages of dishing up an engrossing immersive and cinematic experience. Your Skyrims, GTAs, Batmans, Uncharteds, Halos, etc. of this world are testament to that.

However, I’d challenge anyone to argue that for sheer gameplay and fun factor that they’re any better than the best indie games now or true classic games of yesteryear, both made by much smaller teams. In fact, whilst I dwindle on whether I get a next gen machine I’ve gone all retro and am discovering with the power of modern technology (I say no more) some absolute hidden gems across the arcade and 8 and 16-bit home console scene.

You mentioned some time ago that it’s likely that with rising development costs of AAA titles that publishers would produce/finance fewer games in the hope of greater profits per release with the remaining void being filled by smaller indie titles and I believe that this time has come round sooner than expected.

But here’s the conundrum: what happens to games that fall bang in the middle such as your Rayman Legends, Bayonettas, Binary Domains, none of which were commercial successes. Bayonetta has found a new home on the Wii U but with that struggling for popularity and sales I fear that even Big N won’t have the muscle to save such titles in the future.Sam

GC: We think you already know the answer to that, and it’s not a pleasant thought.

The numbers game
Thanks for the reply AporkpiePizza. 23,000 people is certainly a reasonable sized group of people and I have no doubt that all would buy Shenmue III. However, 23,000 is a long, long way short of the million copies Sega will probably need to sell to break even on the big budget Shenmue III I expect you would like.

Now my question is for each person that Facebook group is there another 42 that would buy the game if funded in the normal manner? (23,000 is only 2.3% of the required market. Sega need to find the other 97.7% elsewhere and I do not think they exist. This is what I meant by a vocal few).

I am estimating that Shenmue will cost at least £10million to make, that is a donation of over £400 per person if only those 23,000 donated to the appeal. How much are you prepared to pay for the game to be made?

I am sorry but for me the numbers do not seem to add up to a financially viable product. And believe me I very much want to be proven wrong as it may lead to other sequels to long forgotten Dreamcast games. (In my case I think a sequel Skies Of Arcadia would be awesome. And I bet GC would love another Power Stone).PazJohnMitch

Limited love
A few (long-winded) thoughts on my Dark Souls II experience so far. I’m not having as rewarding a time with the game as I did with its predecessor. Part of this may have to do with familiarity, but some of it also has to do with the changes made to the design.

For one thing, Drangleic is not a patch on Lordran. In Dark Souls I the designers gently steered you through the game with some ingenious gating and doubling back on spaces. The journey was a rewarding experience where you gradually discovered the world through its many interconnected routes. Conversely, Drangleic just fans out in different directions from Majula, with far less pleasing trickery in the world design.

While this approach might make each players journey less scripted it also robs you of Lordran’s sense of spatial harmony and pacing between the big bosses.

One particular boss placement in Dark Souls II is just plain weird. After defeating the Last Giant I found myself a mere hop, skip and a jump later facing down the Pursuer. The curious proximity of these two bad boys is one thing, but the sudden spike in difficulty is quite another. The other players who rode in to assist me fared no better, although I freely admit I was usually the first to pop his/her clogs.

I WILL KILL that b%$*a%$ later on when I’m more powerful, but running up against him like that, and so suddenly, felt like bad design. Sure, each boss in Dark Souls I felt tougher than the last (some were painful), but by the time you reached them your stats were never so severely out of sync as mine were against that Pursuer git. Then I read Crazy-Crusha’s weekend feature about a much later stage in the game, and it sent shivers down my spine (not the good kind).

The other thing I’m unsure of is the fact that enemies disappear after a certain number of runs through each area. I had the inevitable misfortune to lose a hefty batch of souls at Heide’s Tower and it wasn’t exactly reassuring to know I couldn’t re-farm them because the Forest of Fallen Giants was depleted.

Some of these points might be contentious in the round, and I’m sure other players who are further in might have a fuller perspective. I’m unconvinced right now because I’m still at an early stage in the game, so I’ll see how it goes. The thing is, I still really like Dark Souls II but I definitely don’t feel as enthused about pressing on as I did at the equivalent point in Dark Souls I.Tingle’s Therapist

GC: You can bring back the enemies with a Bonfire Ascetic, although they’ll come back tougher than before (equivalent to New Game+).

Indie machine
Having just read your review of SteamWorld Dig for PlayStation 4/Vita and then thinking I’d just put a few hours of my time this weekend into said game (though still nowhere near completion it feels) it occurred to me that the Vita is now the place I go to play my indie games.

Whether it’s exclusives like OlliOlli or TxK or multi-platform games like SteamWorld, Spelunky, or Luftrausers I like that I have them on a machine that I could take on a train/bus journey if necessary but can also play whilst relaxing on the sofa after a hard days work.

BASIC advice
With regard to msv858’s question about game-making software DarkBASIC Pro is indeed a programming language based on BASIC but it’s tailored to suit video games. So it has lots of commands to load and manipulate external media such as 3D models, sprites, sounds, etc. and to use joysticks and gamepads.

So as not to be completely bias, there are plenty of other options such as Unity (which is a very popular with indie developers) and GameMaker: Studio or you could download a proper programming language such as Java. Most of them have a free/trial version so it’s just a case of playing around with a few of them until you find something that you’re comfortable with and this includes the online community as this will be your first source of help.

However, that’s just the software to create the game mechanics and other real time stuff. You’ll have to find others if you want to make your own models, sprites, sounds and so on. I use Blender, Paint.NET and Audacity all of which are free. But you can do what I did and start with Microsoft Paint and go from there (also some engines will come with a few free media assets to get you started).

There really is a whole series of Reader’s Features on the actual nuts and bolts of making games and then a whole other bunch for the actual design of games and at least one more to examine the mentality of anyone who attempts it just for fun.

One last thing, I really appreciated the positive comments from the Underbox and hope those who downloaded Purple Complex are enjoying it.James

GC: That’s very useful, we’re sure plenty of readers would appreciate more features along those lines.

Inbox also-rans
RE: Kurt Lewin. You’ll know exactly why looking like a proper tool when wearing a VR helmet is a concern as soon as your girlfriend/boyfriend or wife/husband or little brother/little sister posts videos to YouTube of you twitching like a tweeker when playing VR Call Of Duty.Mitchell

Since it got a mention last week, Crusader Kings II is £7.49 on Steam until Friday.Tyler Zerstören

This week’s Hot Topic
The subject for this weekend’s Inbox was inspired by reader iLike Fat Ladys (gamertag), who asks what video game are you best at?

How good are you at it compared to other people and if it’s a multiplayer game how confident are you that you’ll always come out near the top of the heap when playing? If it’s a single-player game what difficultly level do you play it at and is there anything specific you do to show off within the game? What game, or type of game, are you worst at and does it annoy you that you’re no good or is it more because of a lack of interest?

Do you generally regard yourself as a skilled gamer or are you merely average or below average? If you’re very good do you handicap yourself when playing friends and family – and do you tell them? If you’re not so good does it bother you, and does it limit the types of games you play?